Behavior theory: achievements, advances and pending tasks

Abstract

A retrospective evaluation is made of the goals and advances promoted by the publication of Teoría de la Conducta: un análisis de campo y paramétrico, by Emilio Ribes and Francisco López in 1985. The difference between a general model and a taxonomy of behavior is examined. The need for both conceptual and experimental analyses of behavior is emphazised, and the nature of interbehavioral functions is analyzed from the perspective of detachment from time and space, among other factors. The problems relative to the ontogenic and phylogenic evolution of behavior are discussed. Finally, empirical achievements and extensions of the proposed model to fields such as health, education, social interaction, and scientific behavior, among others, are examined.